


DETENTION

by P5soleilnoir



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Birthday 2019, During Canon, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 05:02:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19055764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/P5soleilnoir/pseuds/P5soleilnoir
Summary: The story of Goro and his terrible day.





	DETENTION

**Author's Note:**

> It's almost 6 hours into June 2nd in Japan as I post this! Happy birthday Goro!

He had hoped he could dismiss it later on as nothing worth fussing over, but whatever bad feeling Akechi Goro had since he spilled his cup of lukewarm coffee all over his freshly cleaned shirt this morning was made official by the end of the second period.  
  
The classroom was unbearably hot, the lecture boring, and to top it all, a sharp point of pain had decided to settle within his head and start clawing its way out in a manner he could have definitely done without. Many students had requested to open the windows, though the general backpedaling that happened afterwards was so immediate it seemed almost spectacular – the air outside, far from the fresh relief the entire room longed for, was so scorching it felt as though it was sucking in the little oxygen actually lingering within the walls.  
  
It didn’t help that the first thing greeting a disheveled, panting Goro as he flung himself into his classroom fifteen minutes late this morning – courtesy of his alarm clock deciding not to beep off – was a sarcastic remark from his teacher, something about how _some_ students ought to keep a low profile when they could hardly achieve an 85 score at the latest test.  
  
Goro had really wanted to react by wrenching his paper out of the teacher’s hand and stomping off to his desk without a word. A sheepish chuckle and a quick apology alongside a promise to do better next time was how he had responded instead.  
  
Really, he knew the teacher had a point, Goro thought twenty minutes later as he allowed himself a bored glance outside the window, but the injustice of it stung all the same. Any other student in the classroom could have achieved a pitiful 75 score only and gotten away with it much better than he had – he was all too aware he was the pride and joy of the school, and as such not allowed to provide anything but the very best results, yet nobody could even try to cut him some slack in the extremely rare times he slightly slipped off?  
  
_Hmph. Of course they couldn’t._  
  
Goro forced himself to repress a bitter frown and looked down at his notes again, trying to ignore the slight sinking of his stomach at the crimson ‘84’ scribbled on the corner of his test all the while. His only comfort lay in the knowledge that this day couldn’t possibly get any worse than it already was.  
  
He was wrong.  
  
“—If our nationally top-ranked student took the trouble to stay with us a bit longer, I’d really, really appreciate it. Unless he deems himself enough of a know-it-all to be exempted from the lecture?”  
  
Faint giggles followed, or so it sounded like. They seemed so distant that no matter how much he tried to focus, Goro couldn’t exactly make them out through the lethargy numbing his mind.  
  
…Lethargy that was abruptly shoved out of the way by startling awareness the moment his half-lidded eyes shot open.  
  
“Did you have a nice nap, Akechi-san? Feeling well-rested yet?” his teacher from fourth period quipped with an ironic smirk, triggering another series of snickers even as Goro straightened up at once and felt his cheeks burn white-hot.  
  
“I-I’m sorry, sir…” he stammered, his gaze shifting back and forth from his lap to his teacher in quick succession. “I, um, I didn’t get much sleep last night because of a difficult case and—”  
  
“Well if the Second Coming of the Detective Prince is so busy with work he can’t attend to his high school duties anymore,” the teacher cut off, his smirk now gone in favor of pure annoyance, “then I suggest he at least refrain from catching up on his beauty sleep during my class. We’re counting on you to make us look good, so get on with it.”  
  
He jerked his chin toward the teenager, his command as silent as it was imperious. Goro scrambled to rise from his chair and reached for his book, taking a short inhalation before beginning to tackle the excerpt he was tasked to read. Once finished, he looked up from his book at his teacher, hoping his performance translated his motivation to fix his previous blunder – it did – and was flawless beyond any form of criticism – it was.  
  
So eager had he been to restore his unblemished image that he hadn’t noticed several of his classmates whispering to get his attention, all while trying not to be too obvious. Unfortunately, by the time he caught a glimpse of their urgent expressions, it was too late. As his gaze met his teachers once more, the slight expectant smile upon his face faded.  
  
“Well done, well done, Akechi-san—we’ve moved on from this excerpt about fifteen minutes ago, but the rereading was indispensable, undoubtedly—”  
  
Yet another wave of mild chortles rang out. Goro stood there, book still in his hands, looking and feeling completely stupid. The flush mottling his face once again felt scathing as he hurriedly sat back without a word and remained quiet for the remainder of the lecture.  
  
  
  
  
  
“The nerve of that jerk! Who does he think he is, treating Akecchi like that?”  
  
“You call him a jerk?”  
  
“He’s a giant dick is what he is!”  
  
Lunchtime went on as lively as ever inside classroom 3-1, though the reason for said liveliness was somewhat different from usual. A group of teenage girls was mainly responsible for it – or rather, their spite was.  
  
“I can’t believe he’d humiliate Akechi-kun like that!” one of them snarled, clasping her chopsticks so hard she kept dropping her food back into her bento box. “What the hell’s his problem?”  
  
“Bet he was mad because Akecchi read the excerpt better than he ever could!” her friend chimed in, prompting the whole circle to nod frantically in approval. “I mean, Akecchi’s the best in anything he does!”  
  
“Completely! Your reading was amazing, Akechi-kun!”  
  
But Goro didn’t answer – he was currently too busy being sprawled on his desk and brooding over dark thoughts. It was only at the third hesitant call of his name that he gasped and jolted straight back up, suddenly hyper aware that he wasn’t alone.  
  
“A-Ah, um… I’m sorry you had to witness such a disgraceful sight,” he apologized hastily as he grazed his cheek with his index finger – a gesture that earned him collective sighs of endearment. The mask was now back in place, brand new and sparkling, erasing all traces of his previous imperfection. It was here to stay. “You were saying…?”  
  
“Nevermind, Akechi-kun,” the first girl purred, her honeyed attitude toward him a complete heel turn from the venom directed at their teacher. “Say, why aren’t you eating lunch?”  
  
Goro’s smile twitched. It took everything out of him not to slump onto his desk again and succumb to a newfound wave of gloom. “Ah… I forgot my food at home this morning. Probably because I was running late…”  
  
“Oh no, Akecchi…” one of the girls muttered, the look of pity upon her face unanimous among her friends. “Have you checked the school store?”  
  
“Or maybe you don’t have money on you?” another piped in as he parted his lips to answer. “We’ll gladly help you if you need some!”  
  
“You’re too kind, but money isn’t the problem…” he replied before he could feel completely overwhelmed – the third girl had been about to speak up as well. “I did go to the school store to buy something to eat but, ah… the last sandwich just happened to sell out right as it was my turn.”  
  
He had intended to sound like he was laughing it all off, but the way his fans glanced at each other in concern suggested his attempt had fallen flat. Goro quickly raised his hands in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture, letting out a few chuckles he knew sounded fake. “Haha, please don’t worry about me. Besides, I’m not hungry at all. I’m completely fine.”  
  
It came as no surprise to him that his stomach would choose this exact instant to give an exceptionally loud, unmistakable rumble.  
  
He had never felt such a primal urge to just drop everything, rise from his seat and shut himself away into his bedroom forever than in that very moment.  
  
“Still, you shouldn’t skip a meal, Akechi-kun…” the first girl lamented, gazing at him dolefully before stars suddenly lit up within her eyes. “You, you can have some of my lunch if you want! I made it myself!”  
  
She had seen the opportunity, no doubt, and hadn’t thought twice about taking it. Her friends blinked at her, as if stunned by a sucker punch. It took them a while to truly process that sudden turn of events and react accordingly. “Wha—Hey! We want to share food with Akechi-kun too!”  
  
“What is he going to do with a few vegetables and tofu? He needs something way more nourishing than that,” she shot back while waving her hand dismissively, the matter definitely settled in her eyes. “Here, Akechi-kun, you can finish my ramen… There’s still a lot left!”  
  
An aroma of broth made its way to his senses as she presented him with a cup of apparently homemade ramen. True to her word, there was enough left to quell even the most critical form of hunger.  
  
“Um, it’s very kind of you, but I’m not sure I can accept…” he murmured slowly, feeling like he was prying the words out of his own throat – the build-up of water inside his mouth was accumulating by the minute. “I wouldn’t want to deprive you of your own food like this…”  
  
“What are you saying, Akechi-kun? Come on, help yourself!” the girl chirped in return before her friends could step in and add their two cents. “Here, I even have a spare pair of chopsticks…”  
  
“Are you sure you don’t mind…?” he asked timidly, about to give in as she practically thrust the utensils into his hands. Her joyful denegation was such that he could practically see sparkles in her eyes. Beside her, the other girls stared, green with envy.  
  
“Please let me know what you think~” she cooed as he thanked her sincerely before bringing a mouthful of noodles to his lips. His stomach gave another rumble and, after taking care not to burn himself, he slurped it down in one go.  
  
The first bite was like heaven on his tongue, an explosion of flavors unlike anything he ever had before – not because the taste was particularly mind-blowing or unique, but because he was just so _famished._ Leeks, onions, garlic, miso, fried egg, it was all hardly better than a cup of instant noodles, hardly better than any sort of junk food in fact, but that didn’t matter – he was already reaching for a second bite with as much dignity as he could manage still, outwardly preserving all appearances, inwardly as ravenous as a starved animal—  
  
“…Hm?!”  
  
…Of course, that day wasn’t over yet, not when it still had plenty of surprises in store for him – starting with possibly the nastiest of the bunch so far.  
  
“Akechi-kun? What’s wrong?”  
  
But Goro didn’t answer, _couldn’t_ answer – he had doubled over, hand clasping his mouth as he coughed, hacked and spluttered, his tongue and throat were on fire—  
  
“What the hell did you put in that ramen?!” he heard a voice shout, but pinpointing its owner was currently beyond his capabilities. “Don’t tell me you poured an entire bottle of spices in it again!”  
  
“H-Huh? But ramen has no flavor unless it’s super spicy! You know that’s how I like it!”  
  
“Yeah, and you’re like the only person in the world who can eat it without starting to breathe fire! Even Akecchi’s down for the count!”  
  
Their bickering was rising to dangerous levels, rendering them oblivious to whatever was going on around, be it the curious glances from their classmates or the increasingly severe retching noises escaping Goro’s throat. His vision was blurry, hindered by the numerous tears streaming down his cheeks, and the inferno raging deep within his core showed no sign of quelling down, only mounted. Thousands of blisters rose to the surface of his inner membranes, or so he imagined it, permeating each wall, growing bigger, bigger, bigger—  
  
“He needs something to drink! Ugh, where’s my water bottle—”  
  
“Here!”  
  
What appeared to be a small carton of juice was shoved right to his face. Desperate to extinguish the volcano, Goro grabbed it in one brusque motion without thinking and gulped it all down to the very last drop – until he felt his throat contract.  
  
Eyes opening wide, he let go of the carton and practically threw himself out of the classroom, dashing to the nearest bathroom madly as he kept gagging, collapsed in front of one of the toilets and finally vomited everything he got.  
  
Meanwhile, back in his classroom, the awkwardness was at its peak.  
  
“Hey… Can I ask what kind of drink you gave him?”  
  
A silence went by. The girl retrieved her discarded carton without a word, then turned to face her friends.  
  
“It was durian juice…”  
  
  
  
  
  
“—Don’t forget, you’ll get a test next week on what we reviewed today, so I strongly advise you to study hard. Onto the next notion we have to tackle before the end of the period…”  
  
It was nearly two in the afternoon when class 3-1 was given a brief moment of respite in between two particularly difficult lectures. Students took this opportunity to stretch and chat briefly as their homeroom teacher wrote a series of instructions on the whiteboard.  
  
“Hey, Akechi, you okay? …He’s not responding.”  
  
“I think he doesn’t feel like talking at the moment.”  
  
Goro heard, but gave no sign that he did. He still mentally confirmed his classmate’s assumption, however – never in his life had he felt so little like joining in social interaction. His little _stunt_ from lunchtime left him with a bitter taste in the mouth, in all the senses of the word, rendering him quiet and withdrawn, as well as determined to keep it that way for the remainder of the day. He didn't have the heart to do anything anymore, not argue, not kick and scream at this string of bad luck befalling him, nothing at all. He hadn’t even found the will nor the strength to humor his apologetic fans longer than the strict minimum – a mere sparkly, dull smile and a reassurance that no, of course it wasn’t their fault, and that was that. The next moment, he was an aloof, expressionless shell.  
  
He couldn’t wait for this day to be over so that he could crawl into bed and be left in peace.  
  
He couldn’t wait, and yet the end of said day didn’t seem to get closer anytime soon. For a moment, he even wondered if his watch was still functioning correctly. Perhaps it was the consequences of his sleepless night catching up to him, but time seemed to have slowed to a crawl right there in this classroom, with the intolerable heat suffocating him, the lecture giving him a headache, the teacher’s monotonous voice droning on and on—  
  
“Akechi!” said teacher barked all of a sudden, causing Goro to startle and straighten up at once. “What did I just say about the properties of air in pneumatics?”  
  
_Come on, give me a break already…_  
  
“I… I don’t know, sir,” he muttered after a short silence, all too aware he had better admit it rather than make a fool of himself further by guessing at random. “I couldn’t catch what you—”  
  
“Listen, Akechi,” the teacher cut off, a light flare streaking his glasses as he leaned over his desk. “I’m going to interrupt this lecture to set several things straight, to you and everyone else in this room so that you all get a fair warning.”  
  
Several students exchanged knowing glances, some others looked positively worried. Goro swallowed, silently telling himself he really, truly couldn’t wait for this day to end already.  
  
“As an elite high school, it is our priority to make sure each and all of our students are part of the very best of Japan. You are all destined to the likes of Todai and Sodai after all. The older generations are counting on today’s youth to make them proud and pave the way to our country’s future. That means you.”  
  
He swept his eyes across the room, stopping them on a random student who struggled to hold his gaze. “Now, we have some very talented and remarkable individuals among our ranks, whose circumstances and statuses sometimes allow them to be granted special privileges. We take pride in cultivating those skilled individuals as much as we can, which is why we may agree to accommodate whatever necessities surround them.”  
  
The silence was palpable. It was like the entire room was frozen in time.  
  
“However, this is still a high school. Your education is what matters to us first and foremost—everything else is secondary. And so, if it comes to our attention that your results are starting to fall behind somehow” — he finally met Goro’s gaze, whose own face darkened slightly — “we might have to consider revoking some of your privileges… Know what I mean, Akechi?”  
  
Goro stayed silent. His stare didn’t waver.  
  
“You’ve been skipping school a lot lately because of your job—with the headmaster’s permission, I’ll give you that. But with what I heard from the other teachers just today, be it your plummeting grades or your slacking off in class, I think I’m going to have a long chat about you in the faculty office very soon. I don’t know if your status got to your head somehow or if you feel like your studies are small-time next to your job, but I would definitely take them much, much more seriously if I were in your shoes. Arrogance is a sin, you know.”  
  
“…I understand, sir,” Goro replied through gritted teeth, swallowing with difficulty what he truly wanted to say. “I promise I’ll make an effort.”  
  
“Oh, you will. I’ll even help you get over yourself,” his teacher replied with an air of finality, prompting Goro to frown at him in wariness. “You’ll be in charge of cleaning duty everyday from today onwards. See if it can teach you some humility.”  
  
“What?!” Goro exclaimed as he rose from his chair, unable to believe his ears. “Sir, you know I’m often very busy after school, I can’t afford to stay that long every single day—”  
  
“We’ll talk about it again when your results are back to where they should be. You’re not a special case in this class, celebrity, detective or otherwise—in my eyes, you are and always will be a regular student. No preferential treatment no matter how much you complain. Now back to work with you all.”  
  
His word was final, but Goro didn’t immediately comply. He stood there, chest heaving slightly, an expression of utter betrayal etched along his face. There were thousands of things he wanted to say, let alone do – starting with stomping off to the exit and never return – but in the end, the teacher’s glare upon him got the better of his fleeting recklessness. Slowly, he sat back, spending the rest of the day in utter silence.  
  
As a loud man-made rumble accompanied the enthusiasm announced by the final bell two hours later, Goro stayed behind in the classroom, glancing at the few students who had decided to stick around to study or simply chat. He could sense their gazes upon his back but pointedly ignored them, instead reaching for the cleaning supplies in the closet and tackling his task as quickly as possible. Even so, while he could pretend not to see them, his sense of hearing wasn’t fooled as easily – their entire conversation was received loud and clear.  
  
“—At least those two will be happy to get out of cleaning duty for a while,” a girl was saying behind his back. “Still, the teacher was kinda harsh…”  
  
“He was, yeah. Guess he wanted to prove a point or something…” responded a male voice. “I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes, though… It’s like those detentions my brother told me about, the one who’s an exchange student in the United States.”  
  
“Oh yeah, you told me about him before,” the girl replied. “But detentions? What’s that?”  
  
“It’s a form of punishment in American schools. My brother told me that if you misbehave, your teachers can force you to stay at school even after classes are over for the day… They give you extra homework to do or lines where you have to write a hundred times ‘I am not allowed to disrupt class’ or something…”  
  
“Eh, really? Sounds like a chore… but then again, cleaning duty is a chore too.”  
  
Goro kept quiet, though he was listening in as he scrubbed a particularly persistent ink stain off one of the individual desks. He had never heard of detentions before, but with the explanation of his classmate, what he had to endure right now definitely seemed like one. An ironic smirk rose to his lips.  
  
Detention… That sounded so off, somehow.  
  
_So the young are actually being detained, huh… Just like real prisoners…_  
  
His smirk twitched at a knowledge only he possessed. Tied down by his school, tied down by his job, tied down by his peers, tied down by society, tied down… by everyone.  
  
Goro couldn’t help but snort. It was too fitting, too perfect, too accurate. Hadn’t it been for his extremely foul mood, he might have given a few laughs.  
  
He was one of the last people to leave the school grounds that day. Most of his fellow students, if not gone yet, were lingering outside the gates, wallowing in the warmth announcing early summer and chatting idly. Goro sped by the crowd at a brisk pace, gaze fixed ahead in a manner that he hoped dissuaded any attempt at communication. It was only when he noticed the unusual exclamations and whistles of admiration that he condescended to glance at what had caused the commotion. Then, without warning, his eyes widened.  
  
“There you are. I was starting to believe you would spend the night at school, seeing as you took so much time to show up.”  
  
Niijima Sae’s smile was confident – almost befitting a goddess', and eliciting the stares of males like females in equal measure. She was straddling a motorcycle – a veritable monster of machinery, 500 pounds of visible pipes and overall _awesomeness_ –, jerking her head so that her hair flew out of her face.  
  
“Happy birthday, Akechi-kun. Let’s go get some sushi.”  
  
And before he could even process her offer, she threw him a spare helmet and gestured at him to hop on. Goro blinked, rooted to the spot, his expression frozen into one of utter surprise.  
  
“Hey… Who the hell’s that woman? What does she have to do with Akechi?”  
  
“Do you think she’s his mother?”  
  
“Don’t be stupid… She must be his girlfriend!”  
  
A great deal of whispering ensued among the overexcited students, though Goro didn’t catch any more of it. A bright – genuine – grin brightening his face, he climbed behind her and secured his helmet on, Sae-san’s encouraging smile upon him all the while. He couldn’t help but cling to her tight as the engine rumbled to life, feeling somewhat nervous as he had never ridden a motorcycle in his life before. Sae-san seemed to understand that just fine, for she allowed the close proximity without a single trace of disapproval in her manner much to his gratitude. The next moment, they were gone, Sae-san leaving in their wake a dumbfounded crowd, and Goro gaining the realization that this day might not be so bad after all.

 

 

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Take a look at [my Twitter account](https://twitter.com/p5soleilnoir) if you're interested in my fanfic updates, sneak peeks of future stories, chatting with me, or otherwise seeing 99% of Goro pictures and content!
> 
> [My profile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/P5soleilnoir/profile) is regularly updated in accordance with my current and future projects, so feel free to check it out every now and then!


End file.
